Peoples Stories - Bevendean History Project
Community and Friendship in Bevendean
Sheila Lemon:
“You haven't got the atmosphere that was here before, when neighbours looked after neighbours. You could run along the road if you wanted a quarter of sugar, and they had some for you. But you can't do things like that now. And you can't let the children out to play because you have got to watch them all the time which is not a very good thing, is it? And you have to watch who knocks on your door. Nothing like that before, the door was open all the time we didn't have to lock up. But they do now, I understand”
Mick Short:
“It took a long time for the church to be established in the Old Barn. Most activity centred around The White Admiral pub or the school, and was family orientated. There was little else except a football team at that time run by a chap who lived by the end of the cinder path at the end of Heath Hill Avenue. The team was the Bevendean Rovers, and they played on a pitch at the end of Heath Hill Avenue that had been created using ash from Southwick power station, to make a level pitch”.
Margaret Gorringe:
“I still haven’t found anything bad about Bevendean. I’ve lived here since I was three weeks old and I’m still here. There is nowhere else I’d want to go and live. I find it peaceful out here, quite relaxing, and I don’t have a problem having to get a bus down the town, and waiting for them to turn up coming back again. I really don’t see anything bad about it because it’s always been a happy place to live for me”.
Robert Brown:
“I just think it’s been a privilege to live in a place like this, to have had the friends I’ve had and the experiences I’ve had. The ‘University of Life of Bevendean’ has given me the knowledge to do what I have done in the voluntary sector. One of the things I said at my investiture was that one person doesn’t make a community, but a community can empower a person to act on their behalf, and that’s why I wanted the investiture in the church community so that we could all share”.
“You haven't got the atmosphere that was here before, when neighbours looked after neighbours. You could run along the road if you wanted a quarter of sugar, and they had some for you. But you can't do things like that now. And you can't let the children out to play because you have got to watch them all the time which is not a very good thing, is it? And you have to watch who knocks on your door. Nothing like that before, the door was open all the time we didn't have to lock up. But they do now, I understand”
Mick Short:
“It took a long time for the church to be established in the Old Barn. Most activity centred around The White Admiral pub or the school, and was family orientated. There was little else except a football team at that time run by a chap who lived by the end of the cinder path at the end of Heath Hill Avenue. The team was the Bevendean Rovers, and they played on a pitch at the end of Heath Hill Avenue that had been created using ash from Southwick power station, to make a level pitch”.
Margaret Gorringe:
“I still haven’t found anything bad about Bevendean. I’ve lived here since I was three weeks old and I’m still here. There is nowhere else I’d want to go and live. I find it peaceful out here, quite relaxing, and I don’t have a problem having to get a bus down the town, and waiting for them to turn up coming back again. I really don’t see anything bad about it because it’s always been a happy place to live for me”.
Robert Brown:
“I just think it’s been a privilege to live in a place like this, to have had the friends I’ve had and the experiences I’ve had. The ‘University of Life of Bevendean’ has given me the knowledge to do what I have done in the voluntary sector. One of the things I said at my investiture was that one person doesn’t make a community, but a community can empower a person to act on their behalf, and that’s why I wanted the investiture in the church community so that we could all share”.
28 August 2013
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